45 Years of Expressionist Mastery
Colour as Memory. Texture as Prayer.
Romanian Australian expressionist painter who left dentistry and 1980s Romania behind, spending 33 days hidden in the hold of a ship on his way to the Canary Islands and, eventually, Melbourne. Today, his thick, luminous landscapes turn that journey into colour, texture, and prayer.
Where It All Began
Pechea, Romania
01
Born in the village of Pechea, in a large family of beekeepers, Nelus grew up surrounded by fields, orchards, and a home steeped in faith. His first memories are of sunflowers, haystacks, and the changing Romanian sky – a childhood where nature and God were always present, and colour was something you carried inside.
The Crossing – 1987
At 30, already a dentist, married with one child and another on the way, Nelus realised the life he was living could never contain who he really was. In December 1987, he climbed into the hold of a ship with a close friend and spent 33 days hidden below deck, known only to the cook, on a hallucinatory journey to the Canary Islands. From there he worked in Spain, carrying heavy loads on his back, saving and waiting for the next step: Australia.
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Melbourne, Australia
A New Horizon
In 1988, he reached Melbourne, where his brother was already living. Here, between hard jobs and night-time studies in art schools and universities, the life he’d risked everything for finally took shape. Australian deserts, coasts, forests, and skies added a new light to his palette. Today he lives between Romania and Australia, painting the atmosphere of both homelands from memory.
Texture as Language
The Impasto
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“Paint is primordial matter,” Nelus reflects. He works on large canvases laid on the ground, pushing thick oil with brushes, knives and his gloved hands until the surface almost becomes sculpture. This is how he prays; how he turns the fear, risk, and faith of leaving everything behind into something you can touch.
Every ridge of paint, every swirl of colour is a reminder: he could have stayed a dentist. Instead, he chose this.
Original Works
Available Paintings
Each original oil painting is a unique expression of emotion through color and texture, ready to bring life and passion to your space.
"The texture of paint is like the skin of the earth—it breathes, it ages, it holds memory. Each stroke is a conversation with God."
— Nelus Oana
From the Melbourne Studio, 2024
Years Painting
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Original Works
100
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Countries
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Exhibitions
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